Science Study Center, 12:30 p.m., 427 Major Williams: "Faculty Pay
Raises Ought to be Allocated on an Absolute Dollar Basis Rather Than on a
Relative Percentage Basis," by Golde Holtzman.

Geological Sciences, 4 p.m., 2044 Derring: "Gold," by Jim Craig.

Physics, 3:30 p.m., 2030 Pamplin: "How Accurately Do We Know the
Charge
of the Electron," by Toichiro Kinoshita, Cornell.

SpecialScience Study Center/Center for Textual and Editorial
Sciences, 4 p.m., 334 Major Williams: The Space of Time: Temporal
Representation and the Historical Sciences," by Robert O'Hara, UNC
Greensboro.

Friday, 13

MCBB, noon, 102 Fralin: "Biotechnology in Forestry and Forest
Industries with a Focus on Antisense Genetic Engineering as a Tool for
Production of Transgenic Trees with Less Ligan," by Eric Eriksson, Georgia.

The first of a series of three open meetings hosted by the Faculty
Senate to allow faculty and staff members to interact with top university
officials on an informal basis is scheduled for this afternoon, October 12,
from 4-5 p.m. in Owens Banquet Room. Provost Peggy Meszaros is the invited
guest.

President Paul Torgersen will be the guest on November 9. Executive Vice
President Minnis Ridenour will be at the December 8 meeting.

First Global Issues Forum tonight

Ali A. Mazrui, author and narrator of the BBC series "The Africans: A Triple
Heritage," will discuss "Africa in Crisis: The Passions, The Problems, and The
Prospects" at 7:30 p.m. tonight, October 12, in Squires Colonial Hall.
Tomorrow, October 13, at noon, he will address the topic "Africa's Triple
Heritage Re-Examined: Indigenous, Islamic, and Western Legacies" in Squires
150. The talks are open to the public.

Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week 1995 scheduled

National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week (NCAAW) will be held
October
15-21. This is a time when the Office of Health Education, in cooperation with
other departments on campus and student organizations, works to provide alcohol
awareness and education to the campus community through programs, guest
speakers, and alternative activities to drinking alcohol.

On Sunday, Oct. 15, UUSA will sponsor a nine-ball tournament from 12:30-6
p.m.
in Squires.

Max Portney will speak on Monday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. in Squires Haymarket
Theatre. His speech is sponsored by USHS, the Athletic Department, the Greek
Councils, and Theta Chi Fraternity.

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, there will be a bowling special (buy one game, get one
free) at Squires from 9 a.m. until closing, sponsored by UUSA. There also will
be a Mock Road Block from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on the Drillfield, sponsored by the
Virginia Tech Police Department.

On Thursday, Oct. 19, there will be a Staff Development program by Caroline
Self at 8:30 a.m. in Squires Brush Mountain Room A, sponsored by the Office of
Health Education.

Also on Thursday, there will be a Spades Tournament at 7:30 p.m. at the Black
Cultural Center in Squires, sponsored by: Alpha Phi Alpha, and an
"All-Nighter" featuring basketball, water polo, and aerobics, from 9 p.m.-2
a.m. at War Memorial Hall sponsored by Recreational Sports and USHS.

On Friday, Oct. 20, there will be another bowling special at Squires from 9
a.m.-5 p.m., sponsored by UUSA.

New U.S. mailbox installed

A United States Postal mailbox has been installed on Southgate Drive
in
front of the Food Stores building, which is adjacent to Personnel, Purchasing,
and the Controller's Office. This is a drive-by mail box, located on the
concrete sidewalk in front of Food Stores section of the Southgate Center.

The box is installed temporarily; there will be a probationary period for the
next few months to determine if there is a need for the box. The Postmaster
will monitor usage, and plans to install a permanent box if there are 30-50
pieces in the box each day.

The pick-up time is 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays when
the
U.S. mail does not normally operate.

University policy #5210, Item #8, states that personal mail is not to be
mailed from campus. However, according to Maynard Quesenberry, director of
University Mail Services, "personal mail goes through the system all the time.
With the volume of mail that comes through, there's no way for us to monitor
personal mail." Quesenberry says that monitoring of personal mail must be done
on the departmental level.

On the Virginia Tech campus, there are only two other U.S. Postal boxes, one
at Burruss Hall and one at the University Bookstore.

University employees are asked to make every effort to use the box so that it
becomes a permanent fixture, not just probationary. The Business Affairs Staff
Association, which was responsible for having the box placed, suggests that
employees use the box for their holiday mailings.

Videos available for overnight checkout

The Media Center has expanded its circulation policy to include
overnight video checkouts to students. Faculty and staff members are eligible
to borrow two videos at a time and students are entitled to one video per
day.

These videos must be returned the following business day (example: videos
checked out on Wednesday are due Thursday, checked out on Friday are due
Monday) and carry an overdue fine of $5 per day.

Virginia Tech Dairy Club announces annual cheese sale

The Virginia Tech Dairy is holding its annual sale of cheeses direct
from Wisconsin now through November 4.

The wide selection of cheese, including one-pound blocks and creamy spreads,
ranges from mild cheddar to spicy jalapeno. Also included in the sale are a
variety of packs ready to be sent out as gifts, complete with a card carrying
your own personalized message.

The cheese will be available for pick up from the Etgen Pavilion at the Dairy
Cattle Center on Southgate Drive on December 1, 4, 5, and 6 from 3-6 p.m. If
you wish, you may specify that orders be shipped directly to gift recipients or
delivered to your home during the week of December 4.

For more information or to obtain an order form, call Joni at 1-4769 or Meryl
at 961-1434

Counselors available in Charlottesville

The Department of Employee Relations Counselors will meet with
interested employees in Charlottesville on Tuesday, Oct. 24, from 8:15 a.m. to
4:15 p.m. and on Wednesday, Oct. 25, from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 253
of the Virginia Transportation Research Council on the University of Virginia
campus.

The counseling program provides employees outside the Richmond area with an
opportunity to meet individually with a staff counselor and to receive
assistance options for dealing with work-related concerns, discussion of
applicable state policies, information on the Grievance Procedure, and/or
referral for further assistance.

Half-hour appointments must be made in advance. To arrange an appointment,
call the Department of Employee Relations Counselors at 1-800-552-9720.

Free baby-sitting offered to faculty, staff members

The Panhellenic Council of Virginia Tech is hosting a night of free
baby-sitting for faculty and staff members' children ages 3-10 on Friday, Oct.
20, from 5-10 p.m. The council will keep the children in 236 Squires, and will
provide pizza, snacks, games, movies, and other activities.

Admission will be a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Montgomery
County Christmas Store.

To sign up, call Dara Boyd at 953-0872 by October 17.

Women in Mathematics celebration planned

In celebration of its centennial, the Mathematics Department at
Virginia Tech has dedicated the week of October 16-20 to Women in Mathematics
at Virginia Tech: Past, Present, and Future. The program for the week includes
lectures by and about internationally acclaimed women mathematicians, and a day
devoted to on-campus mathematical activities for approximately 100 young women
from Montgomery County middle and high schools.

For more information and a complete listing of events, see the article in
last
week's Spectrum on page 5, or this week's Spectrum calendar.

The service component typically constitutes approximately 25-40 percent of
the
final grade, and is supported by reflective and critical writing assignments.
Frequently, the community-service component is presented as an option for
fulfilling course requirements.

Faculty members planning to integrate community service into coursework
during
the spring semester, or wanting to explore the service-learning option, should
contact Michele James-Deramo at 1-6947, or deramo@vt.edu.

CommonHealth offers screening mammograms

Western Virginia Community Health Services will be on campus with
their
mobile mammography unit on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Any interested employee can make
an appointment by calling the CommonHealth Office at 1-7810.

The screening takes approximately 20 minutes and costs $60. You may pay on
the
day of your appointment with cash, check, or Visa/MasterCard credit card. You
will be given a receipt that you may file with your insurance provider if
screening mammograms are covered under your plan. The film will be read by a
local radiologist and stored at a local hospital. Your report will be mailed to
the physician you indicate.

Roy to read from new poetry book

Lucinda Roy, who is an associate dean in the College of Arts and
Sciences, the Gloria D. Smith professor of black studies, and associate
professor of English, will sign her new book of poetry, The Humming
Birds, Thursday, Oct. 19, from noon to 2 p.m. at Volume II Bookstore. At 5
p.m., Roy will read from the book in Squires Colonial Hall.

A reception will be held after the reading in the Black Cultural Center,
Squires.

Roy is the author of another book of poetry, Wailing the Dead to
Sleep,
and the winner of the Baxter Hathaway Prize from Epoch. Her work has appeared
in The American Poetry Review, the New Orleans Review,
Callaloo, and many other journals in the United States, England, and
Jamaica.